Former Greeley Man and Parker Woman Indicted for Defrauding COVID-19 Relief Programs

DENVER – The United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Colorado announces that Robert Crust, age 46, formerly of Greeley, Colorado, and Bethany Williams, age 44, of Parker, Colorado, were indicted by a federal grand jury in Colorado.  Robert Crust has been charged with five counts of wire fraud and six counts of money laundering.  Bethany Williams has been charged with two counts of wire fraud and one count of money laundering.

According to the indictment, Crust and Williams participated in a scheme to defraud the Small Business Administration and lenders to obtain emergency COVID-19 relief funds.  Crust made or caused the submission of loan applications and documents that contained material misrepresentations, all in furtherance of fraudulently obtaining loans on behalf of three Colorado businesses that he owned or managed.  Crust also submitted fabricated documents to lenders, including tax forms and a payroll report that Crust manipulated to falsely inflate the number of employees and payroll.  Williams also made materially false statements in connection with two loan applications on behalf of one of the businesses.  The three businesses collectively received nearly $1 million in loan proceeds.

Despite representing in the loan documents that the funds would be used for legitimate business expenses, the indictment alleges that Crust and Williams used the funds for personal expenses, including airline travel and hotel accommodations while vacationing in Las Vegas.  Crust used loan proceeds to purchase a 2012 BMW X5 vehicle, a Jaguar E-PACE vehicle, and a boat.

On May 20, 2025, Williams made her initial appearance in front of U.S. Magistrate Judge Cyrus Y. Chung.  On May 21, 2025, Crust was arrested in Tampa, Florida, and appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge Natalie Hirt Adams the following day.

The charges in the indictment are allegations and the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

The case is being investigated by the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation’s Denver Field Office. The prosecution is being handled by Assistant United States Attorneys Theodore O’Brien and Craig Fansler.

Anyone with information about allegations of attempted fraud involving COVID-19 can report it by calling the Department of Justice’s National Center for Disaster Fraud (NCDF) Hotline at 866-720-5721 or via the NCDF Web Complaint Form at: https://www.justice.gov/disaster-fraud/ncdf-disaster-complaint-form

Case Number: 1:25-cr-00133-NYW